Ballads

Ballads are poems, usually expressed through musical stanzas that tell a story. Readers and listeners from children to adults, all socioeconomic classes and education levels enjoy ballads from the Middle Ages to the present day. Ballads tell stories of a time in which the composer lived. They may be stories about families, fisherman, poor-men, love, heroes, and working classes. Some are funny and some are satirical. The poems or stories are not sophisticated; rather they draw on emotion. People are drawn to folklore and/or a belief in the supernatural. They are moved by the tragedy of loved ones, stirred by acts of bravery, raged by acts of violence, comforted by justice that prevails and humored by good-natured squabbles and quick whit.

The main characteristic of a ballad is the beginning usually tells the end of the story. In the Middle Age era, there is little to no background material given and little is known about the characters before the central event is told. Many stories recounted events that were well known to their audience so it was unnecessary to give background information or identify the characters by name. If the story was about a certain king he was simply referred to as “the king” and everyone kne

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One contrast between the Middle Age ballad and the modern day ballad is the literary poetry used. These are very common themes that continue to prevail in ballad literature. There is more focus today on creating scenes of rich imagery rather than just telling a stirring story. Ballads are kept in simple language and are made up of four to five lines versus. It is this difference which allows poets, singers and artists to keep the art of ballads special and entertaining to all audiences. Stories of romance, true stories of life, animal fables, satire and biological sketches are some of the themes behind ballads. High literacy vocabulary was not used in the Middle Ages nor is it used today as illustrated in the examples above.

Mama would wait for that call to come in

When Daddy’d hang up she was gone again…

(Refrain) Mama was a looker

Lord, how she shined

Papa was a good’n

But the Jealous kind

Papa loved Mama

Mama loved men

Mama’s in the graveyard

Papa’s in the pen”

The first ballad is a longer story, giving little background to the characters, and with use of the repetitious last line tells the climax of the story.

The roots of ballads date back to the Middle Ages. The ending is the same in both ballads; one of the spouses ends up dead and the other in jail. The first, from the Middle Ages, tells the story of a wife in love with her husband and she finds him cheating on her. Garth Brooks’ ballad is reverse, the husband catches the wife cheating on him.

They swore to be true to each other,

True as the stars above.

Similarities of Middle Age and modern day ballads include the stanzas.

Approximate Word count = 964
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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